How To Learn English
Where do I start?
Why do you
want to learn English?
Before you begin (or go
back to) studying English, ask youself one question. Why
do I want to study
and learn English? Is it
because you want to, or because someone else wants you
to?
Like every
decision in life, studying English must be something you
want to do.
Tips and ideas on the
best ways
to learn English faster
Tips for Beginners
-
You are like a new baby
Babies learn their language slowly.
First they learn to listen.
Then they learn to talk.
Finally, they can read and write.
-
Listen to English every
day Listen to English programmes. Watch English movies.
-
Speak English
Make up conversations.
Practise dialogues.
Use beginner textbooks.
-
Read English stories
Start with children's storybooks.
Read advertisements, signs and labels.
-
Write down new words
Start a vocabulary (new word) notebook.
Write words in alphabetical order (A...B...C...).
Make example sentences.
Always use an English-English dictionary first.
-
Keep an English diary
Write Sentences. Start with one sentence.
Write another sentence tomorrow. Answer questions
such as:
How do you feel?
How is the weather?
What did you do today?
More TIPS for
learning English
Don't be afraid of grammar
-
Grammar is for communication Remember that you only
study grammar in order to communicate. Practise with
a few exercises, then write an essay or have a
conversation and try to use your new tools.
-
Isolate your weak points Don't
waste time on grammar exercises that you already
understand just because they are easier for you.
Concentrate on grammar that is difficult for you. If
you are unsure of where your problems are, write a
few short essays or paragraphs and ask a teacher to
circle repeated errors. Then you can look up your
problem and practise it.
-
Teach grammar points to a friend
Find a friend who studies at a lower level than you.
Teaching will force you to remember the rules and to
understand them properly.
Improve your homework skills
-
Stay organized. Keep separate
notebooks for exercises, writing, and vocabulary.
-
Study in short, regular periods.
-
Allow a short amount of time for
review.
-
Don't allow distractions.
Consider TV, and the telephone off limits while you are studying.
-
Study in a place where you feel
happy and comfortable.
-
Have a drink and snack handy so
that you don't have to get up.
-
Use a pen that you love.
-
If you study
in pairs or groups, make an English-only rule.
Have
fun learning English!
The things we do best in life are the things we enjoy
doing. If you aren't having fun learning English, you're not
studying the right way!
You can be a
serious student who has fun at the same time.
Ideas for Fun with English
-
Have an English-only
evening at least once a week.
Watch English movies.
-
Talk to
yourself in English while you clean or do the
dishes.
-
Go
around the house and try to name everything in
English (furniture, clothes etc).
Look up words you don't know.
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The 4 Skills
(Listening,
Speaking, Reading, Writing)
Listening,
Speaking, Reading and Writing are the main skills you need to
communicate in any language. Being very good at only one
of these skills will not help you to communicate. For example
you need to be able to read well before you can write well. You
also need to be able to listen before you can speak.
It helps to think of these communicative skills in two groups.
- INput
«««
- Listening (in through
your ears)
- Reading (in through
your eyes)
- OUTput
»»»
- Speaking (out through
your mouth)
- Writing (out through
your hand)
It's simple. Think of it this way.
First you have input.
◄
Next you have output. ►
First you listen to someone ask you
a question. ◄
Second you speak and give them your answer.
►
First you read a letter from
someone. ◄
After that you write back to them.
►
These are examples of communicating.
Input and
output don't necessarily go in a specific order.
Sometimes you speak first and then you listen. Sometimes
you write and others read.
During
communication, the person you are communicating with
uses one of the opposite skills. Therefore, in order to
understand each other, everyone must be skillful in all
four areas.
(Read more about input and
output)
Some
students want to know which skill is the most important.
Since all of the skills rely on each other, they are all
important.
1. How to learn
LISTENING
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2.
How to
learn
SPEAKING
and
pronunciation
-
Talk to yourself Talk about
anything and everything. Do it in the privacy of
your own home. If you can't do this at first, try
reading out loud until you feel comfortable hearing
your own voice in English.
-
Record your own voice
This
might feel very uncomfortable, but it will help you
find your weak pronunciation points. Listen to
yourself a few days later.
-
Participate in class
-
Learn common idioms
-
Practice
tongue
twisters
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3. How to
learn
READING
and vocabulary
-
Read something every day
Children's books, magazines, Internet sites, novels, and
much much more...
-
Read what interests you. Remember that you learn better when you are having
fun.
-
Read at the appropriate level
You want to learn new vocabulary, but you also want
to understand what you are reading. If you are
looking up every word, the reading is too difficult.
-
Review Who, What, Where, When,
Why for each story you read. You can do this for
almost any type of reading. Who is it about? What
happened? Why did it happen? Where did it take
place? When did it take place? This is very useful
when you have no comprehension questions to answer.
You can write or speak your answers.
-
Always have an English-English
dictionary nearby It is a bad habit to always
rely on a translation dictionary.
-
Record vocabulary in a personal dictionary
-
Keep this notebook separate
from other work
-
Record vocabulary in
alphabetical order (an English address book
works well because it has letters of the
alphabet)
-
Record the part of speech
(sometimes there is more than one)
-
Write a sample sentence
-
Review your personal
dictionary (especially new entries) every night
before bed
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4. How to
learn
WRITING
and spelling
-
Write
your local news in English. (Keep
a diary) Don't
always pay attention to grammar. Free-writing can be
very useful. It can show you that writing is fun.
-
Write emails in English
Stay in contact with teachers or other students.
-
Learn important
spelling
rules Remember, you won't always have a
dictionary, especially when
you are writing a test. Even native English speakers
need to review the spelling rules from time to time.
-
Learn common English errors.
Here is a good link to learn about English errors:
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/
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